ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — You could say Denver Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay was stuck in the in-between.
In-between height, in-between weight, in-between draft status. But as training camp wore on, his talents were becoming clear.
“We’ll find something for him to do,” offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave said during training camp. “That’s what you do, you see what players can do and you find something for them to do. And we’ve seen quite a lot from Phillip.”
Three months and seven games later and the Broncos have found plenty for Lindsay to do. He currently leads the Broncos in rushing (436 yards) and carries (75), is fourth on the team in receptions (15) and has been the team’s top kickoff returner for most of the year while also returning three punts.
“I’ll do whatever they want me to do,” Lindsay said. “… One way, two ways, however many ways, just help us win.”
Though Lindsay doesn’t have the breathtaking speed Chiefs wide receiver/kick returner/sometimes runner Tyreek Hill does, he has shown plenty of his own brand of explosiveness and could have a similar a-little-of-this, a-lot-of-that role in the Broncos’ offense as well as special teams that Hill has carved out with the Chiefs.
The Broncos will arrive in Kansas City this weekend for what cornerback Chris Harris Jr. has called an opportunity for a “season-changing game.” At 3-4, the Broncos are currently looking up at both the Chiefs (6-1) and the Los Angeles Chargers (5-2) in the AFC West.
And in a season when many of the Broncos have spent plenty of time presenting the theory the team is better than its current record, Sunday’s trip to Arrowhead Stadium will provide the chance to actually make that case. And in a season when the team’s offense has often had an identity crisis, Lindsay has been one of the brightest most consistent spots.
“I’ve always been confident in what I can do as a player, but you can’t worry about how many times you get the ball or whatever,” Lindsay said. “I just feel like you work and get ready for whatever you’re asked to do.”
The Broncos coaches were smitten early on in the offseason with Lindsay, whom the team signed as an undrafted rookie just after April’s draft. Lindsay had finished his career at the University of Colorado as the school’s all-time leader in all-purpose yards and yards from scrimmage.
Lindsay is also a (Denver) South High School graduate and is the first player from the Broncos Futures Football program (a middle school program) to go on to play for the team. The Broncos also liked that Lindsay, who had offers from several teams after the draft, wasn’t swayed by the fact the Broncos used two draft picks on running backs (Royce Freeman, David Williams) and signed with them anyway.
“Phillip’s shown he’s just a good, good football player,” Broncos coach Vance Joseph said. “I know people looked at the story at first, but he’s earned every part of it. He’s an important part of what we do and can do a lot of things.”
Musgrave has said he has seen enough from Lindsay, as well as Freeman, to take the “training wheels off” how he uses the two rookies. And while Lindsay was initially considered as a change-of-pace option in the offense to Freeman’s power, Lindsay has quickly moved into almost every personnel grouping the team has on offense.
The Broncos have tried to spread the workload between Lindsay and Freeman for the most part, with Devontae Booker getting snaps in some of the third-down packages, but Freeman has dealt with an ankle injury suffered in last week’s win over the Arizona Cardinals. With that, Lindsay and Booker could get more action against the Chiefs if Freeman isn’t fully ready.
Lindsay has had between 12 and 15 carries in five of the Broncos’ games with only four against Baltimore — he was ejected when officials flagged him for throwing a punch in a pile — and only four carries in a loss to the Rams. He also has had at least two receptions in five games, returned kickoffs in five games and returned three punts against the Cardinals.
“I’ve always taken pride in being able to go do a lot of things,” Lindsay said. “Anything to get on the field. I mean if they ask, I’ll try to do it.”
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